Five Questions: Danielle Meder

Danielle Meder, Silhouettes and Signals, 2014. This site-specific installation is part of the Drake's current Winter exhibition.

As fashion shows become inundated with street style photographers, whether it be from the front row or outside the tents, fashion illustrators are becoming a more prevalent and even welcomed sight. (Would you believe that way back when, fashion illustrators were akin to bittorrent-ing pirates, sent by competing designers or retails to copy designs?)

Danielle Meder has quickly emerged as a leader in this revival of live runway sketching. The Toronto-based fashion illustrator, who is part of our current "Neighbours Lovers Strangers Friends" Winter 2014 exhibition, has sketched at fashion weeks in New York, Paris and London. Her live runway sketches have appeared in Women's Wear Daily and FLARE, and she has been photographed in the act by The Sartorialist and The New York Times.

On Sunday March 16, Danielle will be delivering a special lecture in the Drake Underground entitled Silhouettes and Signals, which will involve live fashion sketching on the iPad as she discusses how sex, politics, money, youth, class and even taste shaped the silhouette. On the eve of this lecture, assistant art curator Rea McNamara spoke with Danielle, and, as expected, the illustrator responded to the questions in her preferred medium.

Rea McNamara: You currently have a site-specific installation in the Drake’s Winter exhibition. Can you elaborate on the work? The time stamps allude to a process that a viewer might not catch at first glance.

RM: Your upcoming lecture in the Underground is going to explore the history of the silhouette. Can you talk in more detail as to how we’ve changed the human form over the years with simply the clothes on our back?

RM: I know this is a broad and expansive question, but here goes: how do you think men and women dress today, especially in light with the Fall 2015 collections we just saw on the runways of New York, London, Milan, and Paris?

RM: In your opinion, who are the contemporary designers that are shaping the ideal silhouette?

RM: Have any exciting projects ahead?

Silhouettes and Signals will be taking place on Sunday, March 16 at 2PM in the Underground. Cover is $10. Tickets will be available for purchase at the door. Click here for more information regarding the event. Click here for the Facebook event.